“Putin will feel the price of his war”: what Biden and Zelensky decided during their conversation
11 January 2025 05:09
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted on his Telegram channel about a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
Zelenskyy said he thanked Biden for his support for Ukraine in the war unleashed by Russia.
One of the main topics was US sanctions on Russian energy. Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of the new restrictions.
“It is very important that America has now hit Russia’s shadowy tanker fleet and companies such as Gazpromneft and Surgutneftegaz, which accumulate money for Putin personally. He should feel the price of his war by losing money from his wallets,” Zelensky said.
Zelenskyy and Biden also discussed the situation on the battlefield. In particular, they talked about strengthening Ukrainian air defense. Zelenskyy also thanked the United States for the Patriot systems provided, which “showed their strength in the hands of Ukrainians.”
“President Biden said: preserving and protecting Ukraine’s independence is critical for the whole of Europe and the democratic world. We will definitely withstand and achieve sustainable peace for our people and country,” Zelenskyy summarized.
As reported earlier, Denmark wants to block the Russian “shadow fleet” in the Baltic Sea. Denmark is concerned that old tankers transporting oil through its straits pose a potential threat to the environment.
Despite oil sanctions against Russia by Western countries, Russian oil revenues continue to grow.
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The shadow fleet and the fight against it
According to Michelle Wiese Bockmann, Chief Analyst at Lloyd’s List Intelligence, an active shadow fleet transporting Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan oil, has about 669 tankers. Of this number, 250-300 tankers were usually engaged in the transportation of Russian oil.
From October to December, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 35 tankers that it said were part of Iran’s “ghost fleet,” in addition to the vessels operated by NITC. In early 2024, Washington separately imposed sanctions on Sovcomflot.
According to Reuters sources, the outgoing Biden administration plans to impose sanctions on more than 100 tankers involved in the transportation of Russian oil.
On Monday, the US Department of Defense added China’s largest shipping company, COSCO, to the list of companies working with the Chinese military. This may scare charterers away from using COSCO tankers and lead to a further reduction in the number of vessels for charter.
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